Outdoor Socket - Breaker

karlitob · 15-02-2021 2:01pm #1

Hi all

Appreciate your advice please.

I have an outdoor socket. Last year I used a lot of power tools outside. Should I change the plain outdoor socket for something with a breaker - not sure exactly what I’m asking - but what’s the safest thing I should do. Don’t want to blow the place up accidentally - or on purpose for that matter.

I think the outdoor socket is a feed off one of the light switches inside.

Many thanks.

alan4cult · 15-02-2021 2:25pm

An outdoor socket fed from a lighting circuit and driving power tools?
Time for an electrician.

karlitob · 15-02-2021 4:45pm

alan4cult wrote: »

An outdoor socket fed from a lighting circuit and driving power tools?
Time for an electrician.

That was the electrician. Full rewire of the whole house when we renovated.

I use an extension lead with what I think is a breaker (it has a reset button) but not sure if that’s doing anything.

Any advice?

aido79 · 15-02-2021 4:52pm

karlitob wrote: »

That was the electrician. Full rewire of the whole house when we renovated.

I use an extension lead with what I think is a breaker (it has a reset button) but not sure if that’s doing anything.

Any advice?

I would have my doubts that an electrician rewired a house and put an outdoor socket on a lighting circuit but if that happened I'd be getting the whole thing checked by an electrician who knows what they're doing.

If the circuit is rcd protected then there shouldn't be a need for anything else apart from the extension lead.

stoneill · 15-02-2021 4:54pm

karlitob wrote: »

Hi all

Appreciate your advice please.

I have an outdoor socket. Last year I used a lot of power tools outside. Should I change the plain outdoor socket for something with a breaker - not sure exactly what I’m asking - but what’s the safest thing I should do. Don’t want to blow the place up accidentally - or on purpose for that matter.

I think the outdoor socket is a feed off one of the light switches inside.

Many thanks.

You can get a plug in RCD adaptor

niallb · 15-02-2021 5:17pm

karlitob wrote: »

That was the electrician...

Is the switch actually one of a set of light switches, or just a switch that looks similar and perhaps has a slot marked Fuse on it? If it's a fused spur all should be good.

Andrea B. · 15-02-2021 6:57pm

Hi. Post an image of your fuseboard and you will be guided on a simple check to ascertain what protective circuit and type it is on.

"A test is worth a thousand opinions..." said someone once.

karlitob · 15-02-2021 10:25pm

aido79 wrote: »

I would have my doubts that an electrician rewired a house and put an outdoor socket on a lighting circuit but if that happened I'd be getting the whole thing checked by an electrician who knows what they're doing.
.

Why would you doubt it.

He didn’t put in a doorbell after we all had a good laugh about the DelBoy skit.

I have a cloakroom near the door where we wanted the cat5 that I have throughout the house to come to the router. It’s the same place we have the circuit board and where we wanted the first fix for the alarm system.
However
- he ‘forgot’ to put in any power source so impossible to actually plug in any router.
- there are 4 cat5 points but only 3 cat5 wires in this area. I didn’t know that you shouldn’t/can’t split digital cable but apparently he didn’t know.
- he asked me whether I had an RJ45 crimper and asked the local shop for a ‘loan’.
- and we have no first fixed alarm system. Apparently we said we didn’t want one and would go with wireless. Handy thing to say after the house was finished.

We wanted to put the 2 outside lights on the same switch at the back door. But now we have to go into two different rooms to put on the outside lights.

He put a fire alarm into the sitting room rather than a carbon monoxide alarm - it has a gas fire.

And finally he ‘forgot’ to put in an outside socket. So after hacking at the outside wall he took a feed from one of those outside switches that is in the wrong room.

So many be you’re right. Report him to RECI and get another electrician to review. Of course, I won’t know if he does that correctly either.

aido79 wrote: »

If the circuit is rcd protected then there shouldn't be a need for anything else apart from the extension lead.

Thanks for that. Does the extension lead actually provide some protection.

karlitob · 15-02-2021 10:27pm

stoneill wrote: »

You can get a plug in RCD adaptor

Thank you.

I have this. Would this do the trick?

https://www.woodies.ie/diy-building-materials/electrical/trailing-sockets-cable-reels/masterplug-50-metre-4-gang-13a-heavy-duty-cable-reel-1098769

Or something like this

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/masterplug-rcd-adaptor/63731

karlitob · 15-02-2021 10:28pm

Andrea B. wrote: »

Hi. Post an image of your fuseboard and you will be guided on a simple check to ascertain what protective circuit and type it is on.

"A test is worth a thousand opinions..." said someone once.

Ah - turn off the switch at the fuse board and see if the outdoor socket works?

karlitob · 15-02-2021 10:31pm

niallb wrote: »

Is the switch actually one of a set of light switches, or just a switch that looks similar and perhaps has a slot marked Fuse on it? If it's a fused spur all should be good.

Nope - just a normal switch. Single switch that links to the outside light.

https://www.screwfix.ie/p/mk-logic-plus-10ax-1-gang-2-way-light-switch-white/11822?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1KiBBhCcARIsAPWqoSppJ8Q17QCTH4S3FHi08ef0aCrAFQv_GMhSzRQHj0vPWXiIAnPn0CgaAsviEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

Andrea B. · 15-02-2021 10:31pm

karlitob wrote: »

Ah - turn off the switch at the fuse board and see if the outdoor socket works?

I aas hoping we could go deeper such as 10a / 20a / RCD / RCBO....
Ye keep talking rcd etc, but there may also be circuit load concerns if it is a lighting circuit.

karlitob · 15-02-2021 10:38pm

Andrea B. wrote: »

I aas hoping we could go deeper such as 10a / 20a / RCD / RCBO....
Ye keep talking rcd etc, but there may also be circuit load concerns if it is a lighting circuit.

See below. Thanks. Appreciate any help.

Andrea B. · 15-02-2021 10:47pm

karlitob wrote: »

See below. Thanks. Appreciate any help.

Radio plugged in to outside socket.Volume high.
Trip no. 11 using blue button.
Result=Radio off, you have shock protection and it is on socket circuit ( though we still have concerns on 5a lightswitch)
Result=Radio stays on, come back here.

As an aside, he may have routed cables via lightswitch box. I assume switching light does not effect the socket&#55358;&#56623;?

Gestureapo · 16-02-2021 4:09pm

It'll be very unlikely it's connected to a lighting circuit realistically

karlitob · 16-02-2021 5:52pm

Gestureapo wrote: »

It'll be very unlikely it's connected to a lighting circuit realistically

Why?

Gestureapo · 16-02-2021 5:58pm

karlitob wrote: »

Why?

Because the REC would have to be really stupid or negligent to do this

There's like a 5% chance a REC did this without further evidence

karlitob · 16-02-2021 6:04pm

Gestureapo wrote: »

Because the REC would have to be really stupid or negligent to do this

There's like a 5% chance a REC did this without further evidence

Or both!

Gestureapo · 16-02-2021 6:04pm

karlitob wrote: »

Or both!

Would have to be both

Gestureapo · 16-02-2021 6:07pm

The worst RECs will still wire all sockets from radial socket circuits ime

karlitob · 16-02-2021 6:08pm

Andrea B. wrote: »

Radio plugged in to outside socket.Volume high.
Trip no. 11 using blue button.
Result=Radio off, you have shock protection and it is on socket circuit ( though we still have concerns on 5a lightswitch)
Result=Radio stays on, come back here.

As an aside, he may have routed cables via lightswitch box. I assume switching light does not effect the socket��?

So radio plugged in and on loud. Number 11 blue button pushed. Radio off (as well as a whole range of things).

What does that mean?

Thanks for your help with this.

Gestureapo · 16-02-2021 6:12pm

karlitob wrote: »

So radio plugged in and on loud. Number 11 blue button pushed. Radio off (as well as a whole range of things).

What does that mean?

Thanks for your help with this.

It means the outdoor socket is RCD protected as expected

The other scenario would be rare these days

karlitob · 16-02-2021 6:39pm

Gestureapo wrote: »

It means the outdoor socket is RCD protected as expected

The other scenario would be rare these days

So I can plug in power tools.

Is there a wattage limit to the power tools I plug in.

Is there an adapter I can plug in to the outdoor socket for it to fail there rather than throughout the whole house?

The other poster said there may still be concerns regarding the 5A light switch. Not sure what this means?

Gestureapo · 16-02-2021 7:30pm

karlitob wrote: »

So I can plug in power tools.

Is there a wattage limit to the power tools I plug in.

Is there an adapter I can plug in to the outdoor socket for it to fail there rather than throughout the whole house?

The other poster said there may still be concerns regarding the 5A light switch. Not sure what this means?

1. 13amp portable tools

2. No ,there's no adapter you can fit in series with the board RCD

You could get an RCBO fitted to reduce the potential nuisance

3. No, there's no concerns now about light switches

punisher5112 · 16-02-2021 7:34pm

Get Philips hue lamps or even IKEA etc etc for the outside lights and control from phone, tablet, Alexa and also can fit a wireless sensor so lights will come on when motion detected.

karlitob · 16-02-2021 8:03pm

Gestureapo wrote: »

1. 13amp portable tools

2. No ,there's no adapter you can fit in series with the board RCD

You could get an RCBO fitted to reduce the potential nuisance

3. No, there's no concerns now about light switches

Thank you.

1. Will keep an eye out for that spec. I was using a 9inch makita angle grinder last year. 2400w, 110V and used a transformer. I can’t seem to find the amp on the makita website. But that’s the sort of thing I was using. Oh and an electric cement mixer, belle 110v

2. Understood. Had meant like some breaker on an extension cable that would break any overload.

3. Thank you.

Andrea B. · 16-02-2021 9:43pm

It appears, from the images that you have an installation of a conforming 13Amp double socket circuit with shock protection.
In the eventuality that it trips all or some of the other sockets, then you and/or your circuit are being protected, so the inconvenience should be ignored.
In other words, work away.

Andrea B. · 16-02-2021 9:50pm

Gestureapo wrote: »

Because the REC would have to be really stupid or negligent to do this

There's like a 5% chance a REC did this without further evidence

I would have assumed there is a 0% chance a REC would feed a socket circuit from a lighting circuit?

Gestureapo · 16-02-2021 10:04pm

Andrea B. wrote: »

I would have assumed there is a 0% chance a REC would feed a socket circuit from a lighting circuit?

The 5% chance is because the OP suspected this

Andrea B. · 16-02-2021 10:11pm

Gestureapo wrote: »

The 5% chance is because the OP suspected this

True. I was using the wrong calculation. Percentages always catch me.

karlitob · 16-02-2021 10:14pm

Andrea B. wrote: »

It appears, from the images that you have an installation of a conforming 13Amp double socket circuit with shock protection.
In the eventuality that it trips all or some of the other sockets, then you and/or your circuit are being protected, so the inconvenience should be ignored.
In other words, work away.

Thank you very much. As you can tell, little knowledge about electrics and so I’m very wary of it.

Thanks again.

Outdoor Socket - Breaker

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